Food Adventure: Leske’s Bakery – Maple Frosted Bacon Doughnut Review

These are heady days for bacon, as evidenced by products like bacon mayo, lip balm, and even haute items like vodka. It’s a product beyond overexposed but people are fine with that because it’s delicious. On shows like Top Chef it always struck me as a cheap trick when contestants add bacon to just about everything. Most recently, bacon ice cream was created by Russell Jackson on Food Network Star. It looked delicious, but was that really a challenge? Why not ask them to make an elevated and indulgent vegan or gluten free item?

It’s surprisingly easy to avoid annoying bacon products when you don’t frequent artisanal/fancypants places. Leske’s Bakery however isn’t fancypants at all. It’s my local bakery for fresh loaves of rye bread ($2.95) and many Scandinavian speciality items. With my guard down, the bacon maple frosted doughnut caught my eye. After succumbing to the urge, I walked back home feeling a twinge of guilt. The guilt didn’t last long.

Tearing at the bag like a crazed animal, it looked just as good up close as in the bakery. The bacon crumbles provide the perfect amount of saltiness to the generous maple frosting. The bacon was a perfect level of chewy rather than burnt to a crisp. It’s airy inside like a cruller though not shaped like one. Considering that it’s a calorie heavy, rich food, it’s oddly light. After a handful of bites it was gone. Yes I fell to the bacon-ing of foods but did so on my own terms.